Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were found guilty of killing two Britons but after their
conviction, the pair insist an appeal will prove their claimed innocence

The anguish of the families of the two British backpackers murdered on the Thai island of Koh Tao is set to continue, with the two Burmese migrant workers given the death penalty for the killings convinced that they will be freed after their appeal against their sentences is heard.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, are now chained up 24 hours a day in the cell they share with 28 other inmates in Koh Samui’s overcrowded prison, but are continuing to insist they are innocent of the horrific murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, in September 2014.

The bodies of Ms Witheridge, from Hemsby, Norfolk, and Mr Miller, from St Helier, Jersey, were found on Sairee Beach on Koh Tao in the early morning of September 15th 2014. Ms Witheridge, 23, had been raped and battered to death with a garden hoe. Mr Miller was left to drown in the sea after being beaten unconscious.

Unease over the verdicts has prompted calls from human rights groups for an independent investigation into allegations that the pair were tortured by Thai police after they were arrested, while there have been angry protests on Friday in Burma.

“They feel strongly that the truth will come out one day and that they will be released,” said Andy Hall, a British rights activist who has been assisting with their defence. “They’re in good spirits, but they are now shackled 24 hours a day because this is a death-penalty case and the Koh Samui prison is a low-security jail.”

Their chains will only be removed after they are transferred to the higher security Nakkon Si Thammarat prison on the Thai mainland in January.

David Miller and Hannah Witheridge

On Friday, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch expressed their concern over the claims made by the defence during the trial that the pair were tortured by the Koh Tao police into confessing to the murders. Subsequently, they retracted their confessions.

“We’ve documented many cases of migrant workers being beaten and tortured by the Thai police over the years. There clearly is a pattern of abuse by the Thai police towards migrant workers,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, told the Telegraph. “We would like to see an independent investigation, although I think the chances of that happening are very slim.”

Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s director for south-east Asia, has also called for an inquiry into the claims. “This is far from an isolated case. The Thai police have a long and disturbing track record of using torture to extract so-called confessions,” he told the BBC.

“They slapped me first, then they put three plastic bags over my head. They started punching me in my face and chest, shouting that we did it. I was so hot because of the plastic bags over my head. I couldn’t breathe very well, so I said, ‘Yes, I did it’. I only said that because I was so scared and hot,” said Zaw Lin.

But on Thursday, the two judges who sentenced them to death said there was no evidence that the pair had been physically assaulted by the police.

Michael Miller, David’s brother, was adamant also that the guilty verdicts are correct and that the men received a fair trial.

“It is our opinion that the evidence against Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin is overwhelming,” said Mr Miller, speaking on the behalf of the Miller family outside the Koh Samui Provincial Court after the sentencing. “We believe the correct verdict has been reached.”

Thailand uses the death penalty rarely, having executed only two people by lethal injection in the last 12 years, both in 2009. With Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin’s lawyers preparing an appeal to Thailand’s Appeals Court, it is possible the sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment at a later date.

It is likely too, that the Burmese government is putting pressure on the Thai authorities for that to happen. Burma’s ambassador to Thailand met with a senior official from the Thai prime minister's office this morning to discuss the case.

Anger in Burma over the death sentences has already sparked protests, with a crowd of 1,000 people gathering outside Thailand’s embassy in Rangoon, Burma’s largest city, on Friday.

Demonstrators held up placards saying “Shameless Thailand Government”, “We Want Justice” and calling for the release of the men.

Thailand's Appeals Court is expected to rule on the appeal in the next six months to a year.